I have always had a passion for books and for the past four years I was honored with an appointment to the American Library Association CODES Notable Books Council. Now I am starting on a new adventure, the American Library Association CODES The Reading List book award for genre fiction.

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

My New Year's Goals

I had a whole different post planned for today but, as I was reading a book a question came up that has been circling around in my brain for years. My book is about the Holocaust and of course, I always wonder how people can come up with such horrific ways to brutalize each other.

But the real question I ask myself is, "What would I do if presented with the same situation?" Would I be the one featured in a book as a heroine that hid, smuggled, rescued...my friends and neighbors? Would I freeze in fear and do nothing? Would I pretend not to see what was going on around me in order to protect my comfortable life? Would I actively participate in the persecution? Of course we all like to think we would do the just thing, the kind thing, the right thing but without being in that situation, will we ever know?

I bring this up because I think about this a lot and also because there are atrocities around the world that I can impact (even from my comfy house). So my question for the new year is: Am I doing enough? If I am honest with myself the answer would be no, I am not.

So, this year for my international effort I am going to more actively support efforts to end the violence in Darfur - http://www.savedarfur.org/ and, at home, spend my money and my donations on The Bridge Home For Children - http://www.bhfc.org/ They always need money, groceries and books (my biggest contributions). FYI: If you ever want to donate, I will be happy to provide delivery services. And last but not least, I am going to become much more vocal with my opinion on this "war on terror" and our shameful treatment of our "detainees".